Katarzyna Jednoróg, PhD

ABOUT ME:

I’m director of Laboratory of Language Neurobiology at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology. I am a developmental cognitive neuroscientist with a background in developmental psychology, and trained at institutions including: the Nencki Institute, École Normale Supérieure (Paris), Nerospin (CEA Paris-Saclay) and Haskins Laboratories, Yale University.

My recent research is focused on brain plasticity. I do think that a lot remains to be discovered about how the adult brain changes in response to learning. When can we observe changes in brain function and structure while acquiring new skills? Are they irreversible or do they fade away when we do not use these skills? Is the time course of neuroplasticity similar for learning different skills? For complex skill learning do changes first occur at the level of sensorimotor cortex and later in more advanced higher order brain regions? What are the neuronal predispositions for learning a specific skill?

My research bears on the neurobiological basis of language skills in typical and atypical development. I’m particularly interested in the mechanisms of typical and atypical literacy acquisition in children. My investigations involve characterizing the predictors of developmental disorders, particularly language-based learning disabilities as well as testing different evidence-based interventions. Additionally I aim to uncover a universal brain organization for spoken and written language independent of orthography (contrasting orthographies differing in phoneme-grapheme transparency) or sensory modality (contrasting visual reading in sighted and tactile reading in blind). To this end, I am using both behavioral and non-invasive neuroimaging methods.